AFTER seeing his star novice hurdler Heads Up bounce back with a listed victory at Punchestown on Sunday, Cheltenham Festival-winning trainer John McConnell joins The Racing Edge podcast this week to discuss his Cotswolds contender and a host of other topics.

Joined by Mark Boylan and Anne Marie Duff from The Irish Field, the panel weigh up whether Jonbon can make it Grade 1 win number 13 in the Ryanair Chase at Cheltenham, as well as counting down to Constitution Hill’s much-talked-out flat debut at Southwell on Friday. Each of the team nominate an Aintree horse to keep an eye on, ahead of this week’s Randox Grand National weights reveal.

With a lack of betting pattern monitoring services were highlighted in the aftermath of the recent Redwood Queen case involving Philip and Charles Byrnes, John and Mark look at the current state of play regarding the Irish Horseracing Regulatory Board’s bet-tracking operations, as highlighted in The Irish Field this week by columnist Tony Keenan.

Mark and Anne Marie were on The Jockey Club’s Cheltenham press tour around Ireland last week and report some nuggets from their mornings with Willie Mullins and Gordon Elliott. All three discuss whether Britain can put it up to Ireland in the Prestbury Cup this year, following no outright win for the host team in the competition since 2015.